“I” is a subject. In general, a person.
“Speak” is a verb. In general, an action.
You can change the subject. For example:
BUT, sometimes the verb changes. We say:
BUT, For He / She / It we use SPEAKS with an S at the end.
The S is necessary at the end of a verb when the subject is HE, SHE, or IT.
Look at these examples:
The S is necessary at the end of the verb.
You cannot say:
We need an S at the end of the verb. We say:
English is a language, Spanish is a language, Portuguese is a language, Italian is a language.
Again, the S is necessary at the end of speak.
Let’s look at another verb. We say:
BUT, for He / She / It we use LIVES with an S at the end.
The S is necessary at the end of a verb when the subject is HE, SHE, or IT.
Look at these examples:
LIVES with an S at the end because HE lives.
Now look at this sentence:
Why do we use LIVES?
Because Mary is SHE.
One more example:
Sometimes the verb changes a little for HE, SHE and IT (third person).
Look at this verb: HAVE
We say:
BUT, for He / She / It we use HAS.
We do NOT say Haves… because the verb is irregular.
Look at these examples:
We will learn more about these types of third person changes in another lesson.
Look at this sentence:
This is an affirmative sentence.
How can I make this a NEGATIVE sentence?
In English, we use don’t and doesn’t to make a negative sentence in present simple tense.*
Don’t shows that the sentence is negative.
Note: We use don’t and doesn’t to make a negative sentence in the present simple tense.
* Exceptions: Negative sentences that use To Be or Modal Verbs (can, might, must, etc.)
What is the difference between DON’T and DOESN’T?
Look at this chart:
When the subject is I, YOU, WE or THEY … we use don’t before the verb.
When the subject is HE, SHE or IT … we use doesn’t before the verb.
DON’T is a contraction of DO NOT.
DOESN’T is a contraction of DOES NOT.
After don’t and doesn’t we have a VERB.
This verb is the base form of the infinitive.
The infinitive is the original form of the verb before it is conjugated or changed.
The infinitive is to go, to need, to speak, to live.
But we want the BASE form of the infinitive… this is without the TO at the beginning.
Let’s look at the example of the verb SPEAK. We say:
For example, the affirmative:
What is the negative form?
The negative is:
Another example: The affirmative:
What is the negative form?
The negative is:
BUT, look at this affirmative sentence:
What is the negative form of this sentence?
There is NO S at the end of ‘speak’ in the negative sentence. Why?
We use the base form of the infinitive. The infinitive is TO SPEAK, we just want the base form, which is SPEAK.
Third person verbs lose the final S in negative sentences.
The verb in negative form will always be SPEAK without an S.
Let’s look at another example:
What is the negative form of this sentence?
Again, there is NO S at the end of ‘speak’ in the negative sentence.
Let’s look at another verb: NEED.
The affirmative sentence is:
What is the negative form of this sentence?
And this affirmative sentence:
We need the S at the end for the third person in affirmative sentences.
What is the negative form of this sentence?
Again, no S at the end of the verb because it is a negative sentence.
Let’s look at another verb: LIKE.
The affirmative sentence is:
What is the negative form of this sentence?
And this affirmative sentence:
We need the S at the end for the third person in affirmative sentences.
What is the negative form of this sentence?
Again, no S at the end of the verb because it is a negative sentence.
Look at this sentence.
This is an affirmative sentence. What is the question?
In English, we use DO and DOES to make questions in present simple tense.*
* Exceptions: Questions that have To Be or Modal Verbs (can, might, must, etc.)
The word DO at the beginning tells us it is a question.
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Look at the chart:
Do is used for questions with I, you, we, and they.
Does is used for questions with he, she, and it.
Also the same rules apply to the verb in questions.
We use the base form of the infinitive.
For example, the affirmative sentence:
There is an S at the end of speaks because the subject is HE and it is an affirmative sentence.
What is the question?
No S at the end of speak because we need to base form of the infinitive.
This is an affirmative sentence.
How can we change this to a question?
The DO tells us it is a question.
Another affirmative sentence:
Notice the S at the end of lives because the subject is HE and it is an affirmative sentence.
How can we change this to a question?
No S at the end of live because we need to base form of the infinitive.
I hope you found this English lesson about the Present Simple Tense useful.
If you did, please let other people know about this lesson.
